A Sweet Soul
by Kare Uta
Summary: Takes place during volume 3. As Shiro asks Nightingale for her help with Pandora he seems to get the unlikely help from Mozart also. Oneshot. Mozart/Nightingale.


**A ****Sweet Soul**

Shiro padded up to Nightingale with Pandora in his arms; she was seated in the break room, comfortable with a book in her hands. Pandora had looked in pain when she swallowed water; he knew something was wrong when all the way to get a drink she complained softly of being thirsty, and then had drank almost nothing.

"We need your help." Shiro sighed as he dropped himself down beside her on the couch.

"Oh! How did she get that?" Nightingale ghosted her fingers over the bruising on Pandora's neck. The little girl winced sharply and buried herself deeper into Shiro's uniform, wishing for Nightingale not to touch her.

Shiro embraced her, avoiding answering Nightingale's question by petting Pandora's hair and shushing her quietly. By now, the only people who knew about this were Shiro, Pandora and Rockswell, though by the look Shiro was getting it seemed that Mozart who had followed him here had a good idea what had happened.

Nightingale left momentarily to get the first aid kit from her bedroom, opening it up on the coffee table. She smiled tenderly and reached over to the little girl, "Come on, dear, let me clean that up for you."

Pandora pulled away, pouting and sniffling back her tears in Shiro's arms. The little girl was going to give them trouble. She cried into Shiro's uniform, her little body shaking and she clung to him like she didn't want him to let her go. "Nightingale won't hurt you." He tried to tell her gently. She was sniffling hard and even when her cries seemed to stop her body didn't stop shaking.

Shiro was guilt ridden; how had he not seen…that Rockswell could do such a thing to her? He shouldn't have trusted him, not for a moment. If he hadn't said those things then she wouldn't be…

"Pandora, it's okay…it's okay." His voice began fading into a whisper; he patted her back gently to get her to stop crying. He felt Nightingale and Mozart's eyes on him but he couldn't care about what they were thinking right now. "Nightingale won't hurt you; she'll take care of you too."

"Poor thing! She's absolutely terrified." She reached over once more, but once Pandora could see the hand she pushed her way slowly, retreating behind Shiro's larger body. She smiled sadly, peaking closer to her, "How can I show you I'm not going to hurt you?"

Shiro bit his lip momentarily, then looked to Mozart who was standing by the window, "Will you help, Mozart?"

Mozart sighed, "Contrary to what you think of me, I draw the line at pinning down a little girl."

Was he seriously joking, Shiro wondered, at a time like this? "As much as it's nice to know that…"

Nightingale placed a hand on Shiro's arm, his blood had clearly begun to boil a bit more and she tried to interrupt before he could say anything else. "I think what Shiro means is that maybe I could tend to your neck, and show Pandora that it doesn't hurt."

Mozart stared at her for a bit. Blinked, and then raised both eyebrows when he looked to Shiro, "Have you lost your mind?"

Shiro grit his teeth together. He felt bad for asking, although he hadn't technically asked either. "It's not that big of a deal, is it?" He knew it was an insensitive thing to say but he felt too strongly for Pandora and the state she was in; the state she was in all because of what he said…

Nightingale stood up and placed her hands on Mozart's back and arm, luring him to a chair, "I'll be gentle." She took his hand very briefly, flashing him a small smile.

She picked up some ice cubes from a glass she brought, putting them into a cloth before she passed it to Shiro, "Perhaps you could place some on her neck in the meantime." When she turned her attention back to Mozart, having seen Shiro successfully convince Pandora to put the ice on her bruised skin, she stood promptly as he began removing the bandages from around his neck. "Let me help you," she gathered his long hair from the back of his neck and over his shoulders, clearing the way for him to unwind the bandages from his neck with a bit more care. Shiro clearly averted his eyes once the neck was exposed; there was a distinct line of bruising where the rope had clung to the front of his neck and put a heavy pressure on it, and the whole area above and below that line was red and swollen.

Mozart kept his eyes averted from all of them, his hands balled into fists around the armrests of the chair he was in. Nightingale smiled tenderly, a piece of cotton wool pinched between her index finger and thumb, dripping lightly in a cold and soothing substance. As it touched his skin, Mozart resisted wincing. Rather than sliding along the injury she seemed to dab the wool gently, her eyes set on the task at hand. Occasionally, her eyes would flash to his expression, "Does it hurt?" she asked this time.

"No." But frankly it hurt to speak.

She smiled warmly at him, very delicately and tenderly. Her fingers that touched his face was gentle just like the rest of her as she angled his head away enough to get to some of the swelling.

"Are you feeling unwell? You seem a little flushed." She momentarily stopped what she was doing to put the back of her fingers to his forehead, then to his cheeks.

"I feel fine." He pulled his head away from the hand that touched his cheek, letting her continue what she was doing earlier so that they could get this done with.

Pandora's large eyes, much like the ones Marie Curie had, stared at him. He tried to keep his gaze averted from her; if she hadn't been such a child, so stubborn, then he wouldn't be in this mess! Thankfully, Nightingale had just begun to replace the bandages around his neck with clean ones which meant that this feeling of confusion would end soon for him. Her kind hands would occasionally slide gently between his skin and the bandages, ascertaining she wasn't putting them on too tight. How could she be so gentle with him? How could she be this friendly to him? When all the others had barely acknowledged his existence how was she the only one to reach out to him? Why were these small innocent actions of hers causing his heart to beat so fast?

"Is that alright?" She asked quietly, smiling as always as she applied tape to the bandaging.

Whenever she spoke to him, although it was gentle, it was as though she had secretly demanded his full attention for her; he would snap right out of whatever he was thinking, delaying his replies to her, "Fine." He stood up promptly once she had pulled away enough to all how him to do so.

He began to hate this feeling that he couldn't explain.

"Your turn, Pandora." Shiro forced a smile for the little girl and ushered her gently in Nightingale's direction. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mozart heading for the door, "Where are you going?"

He kept walking, made his way down the hall; he found an open window, standing in front of it for some fresh air. He knew that Shiro couldn't follow him, Pandora surely wouldn't allow it, so he felt safe.

"Mozart…" He looked over to see Kuroe.

Mozart exhaled heavily, "I'm not going to jump; promise." He had been leaning over the windowsill, peaking out over the yard and breathing in the fresh air that blew in.

"That's not what I was going to say," Kuroe shrugged out of his jacket and placed it onto Mozart's trembling shoulders. It was only when he did that did Mozart realize he'd left the jacket of his uniform on the armchair. Had he really been so flustered? "But should you really be walking around so much like this?"

"I can still walk."

Kuroe chuckled nervously, "I suppose so." He stood beside Mozart firmly, looking out the window also, "It's been a long few days. Is there something on your mind now?"

"No."

The member of the school's staff smiled, "Well, I take the hint;" he patted him lightly on the back, "but whatever it is I hope you don't let it get to you."

He quietly returned the jacket to Kuroe, then walked past him to his bedroom. Throwing himself on his bed with little regard for his injuries he was completely left alone to be swallowed up by the thoughts going on in his head.

How was it possible…to ignore the swelling in his chest? How was it possible to ignore his heart began to beat that much faster when he thought of the girl?

Late evening his room lit up somewhat when the door opened, hearing this he began to stir from his light sleep. Looking across the room a slender petite form opened his wardrobe, placing his jacket on a hanger. He sat up, wiping the sleep out of his eyes as he blinked, "Nightingale?"

She snapped herself around quickly, smiling nervously, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you."

Mozart shrugged and sat up completely, "You didn't have to do that." He gestured to the items in her hands.

"Ah," she quickly placed the jacket up in the wardrobe, "I wanted to. I'm sorry I woke you though." She approached him quietly, with very soft and dainty steps, "Are the bandages still okay?" She reached out to touch them but he pulled back promptly; it surprised her but she seemed to accept it and pulled back. "If they need to be changed again please do tell me; I'm happy to help."

He nodded his head but his mouth couldn't think of anything to say to that until it was too late.

"I'll see you in the morning." She walked to the door but turned enough to give him a brief wave and her classic smile.

"What a strange girl…"

What a strange feeling…

**A/N: A little Mozart/Nightingale because I really like**** them together in the manga. For this series I like to keep fanfictions open ended a bit to keep room for the flow of the actual manga so it felt natural to end it the way I did. I'd like for it to go further in the future though. We'll see.**

**Thank you for reading! Please leave a review and let me know what you think!**


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